Apparatus for charging retort-benches.



No. 813,023. PATENTED FEB. 20, 1906.

' A. L. J. QUENEAU.

APPARATUS FOR CHARGING RBTORT BENGHES.

APPLICATION FILED JA'N. 16, 1905.

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FATENTED FEB. 20, 1906.

L. J. QUENEAU. APPARATUS FOR CHARGING RETORT BENGHES.

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APPLICATION FILED JAN.16, 1905-.

No. 813,023. A PATENTED PEB. 20, 1906. A. L. J. QUBNEAU. APPARATUS FOR CHARGING BETORT BENGHES.

APPLICATION nun JAN. 1a, 1905.

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No. 813,023. I I I PATENTED FEB. 20, 1906. A. L. J. QUBNEAU.

APPARATUS FOR CHARGING RE'IORT BENGHES. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 16, 1905.

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PATENTED FEB. 20, 1906..

I A. L. J. OUENEAU. APPARATUS FOR CHARGING RETORT BENOHES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 16,1905.

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UNITE STATES PATENT FFICE.

APPARATUS FOR CHARGING RETORT-BENQHES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 20, 1906.

Application filed J auuary 16, 1905. Serial No. 241,274.

Tow, whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUsTIN L. J. QUE- NEAU, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at South Bethlehem, county of Northampton, State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in A paratus for Charging Retort-Benches; an 1 do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In an application filed of even date herewith I have described and claimed a machine for charging or feeding retorts, muflles, or furnaces burning pulverized fuel, said machine having as its characteristic feature an organization of parts constructed and arranged to project or impel by impact the material to be charged in a continuous and substantially cylindrical undeviating stream directly into the retort or muflie or directly into the boiler-furnace, rotary kiln, or other furnace supplied.

My present invention contemplates means for rendering available a charging-machine of the kind described for charging a bench of retorts made up, as usual, of horizontal and In the'adaptation of the charging-machine to this purpose I have mounted the, machine upon a verticall -ad justable platform adapted to be raise and lowered preferably by means of hydraulic cylinders having as adjuncts a pump, a tank, and a connecting ip e system provided with suitable valves w ereby the same body of water is adapted to be used over and over again to effect the raising and permit the lowering of the latform. I sup ly the charge ing-machine by means of a fee -screw located at the bottom of a hopper containing the ingredients to be charged, and I referably (though not necessarlly) locate tlie hopper upon the platform, so as to partake of its upand-d own movements. The hydraulic cylinders, the pump, the tank, and the motor for actuating the um are located upon a main frame provide Wlfl 2, and 3 re resent, respectively, a top plan view, side e ovation, and rear elevation of a charging-machine of the type employed in traction-wheels adapted to run upon rails in front of the retort-bench,

the practice of my invention. Fig. 4 represents a front elevation thereof, partly in section. Fig. 5 represents a front elevation of the entire apparatus employed for serving a bench of retorts, the up ermost adjustment of the pistons of the hycf the latform carried thereby being indicated in otted lines. Fig. 6 represents an end trated as arranged in front of a bench of spelter-retorts. Fig. 7 represents-a 7 top lan view, partly in section and withcertain o the parts removed. p

The particular construction of the charging-machine proper is illustrated more speci ically in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and'. Referring to the casing of the machine is made u of a base-casting A and a top casting B, sai castings being rovided with projecting flanges castings is 'ournaled the shaft 0, adapted to be revolve by the drive-pulley D and prodevices.

casting having a hub orti'on a with end flanges b, aflat main b0 y portion constituting a circular plate of'a diameter corresponda series of blades 0 of a curvature indicated in Fig. 2. At their outer ends these blades 0 to a radial distance corresponding to the lower portion of the feed-inlet E, from which point they decrease in width until they apparent, therefore, that any material forced into the casing through the inlet-opening E will receive the full. im act-blow of the extreme outer portion of t e blade a 'proaching atthat; particular instant and opping in front of the widest and outermost. portion of the blade and at right angles thereto will have im arted to its. momentum equivalent to that ue to, a sharp blow, in consequence whereof the materialreceiving such impact the upwardly-inclined outlet-spout F and its the pi 'esectionF (see' Fig. 2) is to give forn: and; direction to the issuing stream of charging-material, and in this re ard the pipe-section F acts in a measure 1i e the barrel of a raulic cylinders anding to the internal diameter of the casing, and" are of a width corresponding to the width of the casing, and they continue of this width merge into thesurface of the disk! It will be blow will be driven out tangentially through 1 view of 'the apparatus shown in Fig.5, illusthese figures, it will be noted that, as shown,

for bolting t em together. Between the two vided with suitable brasses and lubricating Upon the shaft 0 is keyed. an,im-- 8o .p'eller-disk consisting, preferably, of a single;

gun to insure against scattering of the projected particles. It will be noted that the feed-screw G (see Fig. 4) terminates, as indicated in dotted lines in said figure, well in advance of the discharge-men th of the inlet into the casing, thereby leaving an intervening portion of the inlet, which portion is constantly filled with the material to be fed into the casing whether the f eed-screw is in operation or not. This is afeature of very eonsiderable importance in the practical carrying out of the invention, for the reason that the casing is thus sealed at all times against the admission of air with the material to be charged. Consequently the stream of material issuing from the casing through the tangential discharge-spout is substantially solid and maintains this formation without spreading on its way into the retorts. I am thus enabled to project into the retorts a continuous and homogeneous stream of the charging material'of almost the cross-sod 'tional, area of the retorts themselves, and

therefore to pack the retorts full from their extreme inner ends to their outer mouths. If any substantial body of air were present in the projected stream, such air would tend to expand immediately upon leaving the dis charge spout and would correspondingly scatter the material on the way to the retorts, and, furthern'iore, the effort of a stream containing any substantial body of air to enter a retort of diameter but little larger than the stream would be opposed by the air already in the retort to such a degree as to prevent successful charging where the materialis in a comminuted condition. Where, as in my machine, the stream of material projected into the retort is substantially deprived of air by reason of the scaling of the inlet, the air within the retort is found to oppose no substantial resistance to the entrance of the material, and the charging operation proceeds with corresponding accuracy and completeness.

On reference to the remaining figures of the drawings, and particularly on reference to Fig. 6, it will be noted that the outletspout F is arranged at the same angle as the retorts or muil'les G to be served, so that the issuing stream,v pursuing a substantially straight trajectory, will enter directly into the relatively narrow retorts. The distance from which it is feasible to charge the retorts varies from three to ten feet and more, the stream retaining its substantially cylindrical shape .without material deviation at these distances. .In general, the conditions of use permit the apparatus to be approached to a distance of, say, three or four feet from the front of the bench, and for ordinary usesI prefer this arrangement.

As shown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, the chargingmachine is mounted upon a platform supand is operated by an electric motor I, belted thereto, as indicated. Another motor J through suitable gearing operates the feedscrew G, arranged at the bottom of the hopper K, containing the zinciferous material and friable coal constituting the charge for the retorts or mufilcs. The motors I and J, the charging-machine, and preferably the hopper are all carried by the platform II, al though the hopper may in some instances be supported by the main frame of the apparatus and be. provided with a telescopic spout communicating with the small casing within which the feed-screw works. The platform H is supported by the hydraulic pistons 11 11 of the hydraulic cylinders M. These cylinders are operated by a pump geared to an electric motor P, and a pipe systen'i, as

shown, extends from the pump to the cylinders and to a tank R, this pipe system being provided with a valve T for permitting the escape of the water into the tank when the pistons are lowered. By this expedient the same body of water can be utilized repeatedly for raising the pistons and permitting them to descend.

I The mode of operation of the apparatus will be apparent. Beginning with the plat form, and col'isequently the charging-ma chine in the upper adjustment, so as to bring the outlet-spout F into line with the open mouth of the first one of the series of the upper retorts, the charging-machine is operated until that particular retort is properly charged, whereupon the ren'iaining retorts of the upper row are successively charged in a like manner. Thereupon the platform, and consequently the charging-machine, is lowered to such a level that the next lowermost row of retorts may be successively charged, and so on until the whole bench of retorts has been supplied. At the termination of the charging of any individual retort the feedscrew is to be thrown out of operation until the chargii'ig-spout is brought up to the next retort to be charged, and this interruption of the action of the feed-screw may,.as is evident, be effected either manually or automatically, as preferred. I may substitute for the single outlet-spout F a forkedoutlet-spout, so as to feed two or more retorts or muffles simultaneously.

It will be noted particularly that the charging machine proper in my apparatus is adapted to be operated independently of the feed-screw or its equivalent. This capacity for the independent operation of the impellerblades of the charging-machine and the feed screw or its equivalent has several important functions. In the first place, the density of the stream issuing from the chargin'g machine In some instances also may be determined by varying either the rate of revolution of the impeller-blades or the speed of the feed-screw, or both, thereby givported in hangers from an upper platform H i ing an extremely sensitive regulation for this purpose. Furthermore, in passing from one retort to another, at which time it is desirable to interru t the feed,,so that the material may note Wasted, the continued independent revolution of the impeller-blades prevents the ingress of air into the interior of, t'he charging-machine; preserving a relatively -hi h vacuum therein, and there ore acts as a,

safeguard a ainst the admixture of air with the materia to any im ortant degree in the casing when the feed 0 material is renewed. Furthermore, an important economy in energy is obtained bymaintaining a constant revolution of the impeller-blades throughout the entire '0 eration of chargin the retortbench, and t he increase in s eed which is incident to the interruption o the feed-in passing from one retort to another is utilized at the beginning of. the next charging operation to the best effect, inasmuch as the initial blows imparted to the entering material have a-correspondingly greater drivingorpropeleil'ect. a aving thus described my invention; what 2 5 I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isy 4 1. Anap aratus for charging retorts, com- 7 a c argingamaehine having impactlades, a delivery spout, and a forced feed,

and means for independently operating the a eed-screw located" at the bottom 0 the hopper and communicating with the inlet-' opening of the charging-machine and means for operating the charging-machine independently of the feed-screw; substantially as describe 1 3. 'An apparatus for charging a bench of retorts, com rismg a char g-machinehaving impact-b ades and a de ivery-spout for impe ling and directing the charge, a hopper, 7

- and a feed-screw located-at the bottom of the hopper and communicating with the inletopening of. the charging-machine, means for operat' the charging-machine independently of t e feed-screwaplatform carrying the char -machine,feed-screw and ho per,and h drauhc cylinders for raising and 'owering' t e platform; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature 5 5 in presence of two witnesses. V

AUGUSTIN L. J. QUENEAU'. Witnesses:

Fnnnnnro E. PIERCE. 

